


Duck Duck Demon

by olliolli_oxenfree



Series: bullinquisitorweek [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Solas is here too I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 02:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8311084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olliolli_oxenfree/pseuds/olliolli_oxenfree
Summary: Day one of Iron Bull x Inquisitor Appreciation Week:The Captain of the ChargersBull takes some time to contemplate his new employer on an expedition to the Fallow Mire.





	

“Alright, Sera. Shall we start a list?”

“Sure. _Bugs._ ” Sera slapped at one on her neck.

“There goes my first one. _Mm_ …muggy.”

“Least your hair’s long enough to put up—”

“Barely.”

“We could catch plague from those bodies. That's for the list.”

“Water’s high enough to get in my boots.”

“I'm surprised neither of you have mentioned the undead,” Solas observed.

Kendra hand waved the suggestion away. “Nah. The undead’s what lends this place it’s _ambiance_.”

Sera stuck her tongue out at the nasal tilt of Orlesian Kendra gave the word. “ _Ugh._ Friggin’ _nob_."

“Speaking of the undead, everyone ready?”

“Give me but a moment more.” Kendra gave a nod to Solas’ request, and with lack of anything else to do started pulling at her gloves. Credit where credit was due, she’d adjusted to that thing on her palm pretty well. Not bad at all, Bull thought, considering she was kept busy enough with pulling the fledgling Inquisition into shape as well.

It had been several weeks since he joined, and there was still no one at the head of the damn thing. An organization with several heads could be a considerable threat, but the Inquisition was too young for that. Pulled five ways between the ambassador, the spymaster, the commander, Cassandra, and Kendra as it was, the Inquisition was more likely to break than see itself through its first year. The fact it hadn’t broken yet said a few good somethings about its leaders.

Kendra herself was no fool, as he had been pleased to note and less pleased to report. She was quick to spot strengths in a person and put them where their strength best suited them and balanced out a weakness. She did what she could to keep morale up, even if it meant making a list of reasons the Fallow Mire was the worst place they’d been to. But then, there were the ways her eyes would track a soldier as they approached and as they left. The way her laughter never came from her gut. That nervous tic she had, if it could be called a tic, where she would spin a dagger between her fingers when someone else might spin hair or rub their nails. She was on constant vigilance for some kind of betrayal.

Not that Bull could fault her.

“I am ready.”

Kendra beamed. “Light ‘er up!”

The vielfire torch flared to life, and an answering cry rose from the water. Kendra’s fingers circled the cap of a vial. Despite any trepidation she felt otherwise, she was not above using battle partners as terrain in a fight. The vial shattered and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

It was _on_.

The bog must have finally been running out of bodies. Only a handful rushed screeching to the shore. Half of them were down when the demon appeared. Bull swung his axe, the momentum alone enough to slice it in half—

Kendra was there.

Too fast and too close for him to stop. He grunted in surprise, trying anyway, and there was comprehension in the look shot over her shoulder.

Then she was gone.

Ducked out of the way, dropped to a knee as his blade sped over her. It embedded in the demon, slowed enough to not cause instant death. Then Kendra was on her feet again, launching herself forward and plunging a dagger into its rib cage. She turned and lunged again. Her arm followed through, a flash of metal whizzed past, and a throwing knife hit the throat of the last of the undead.

Silence fell.

“You okay?”

“Never better.” Her grin was weak, but her voice and hands were steady as she knelt to retrieve the blade from the demon. “Gotta admit, though, almost thought I wouldn’t— _Damn!_ ” She’d tried to push her hair back as though it was let down. It fell back to the base of her neck as the pins dropped to the ground. Not pins, he realized, needles. Coated in some type of poison, too, from the way she handled them. She tucked them in the pouch at her side with a sigh.

“Sera! You can add shitty hair accessories to the list!”

She turned to retrieve her thrown blade. As she did, the light of the vielfire torch caught her hair and it did that thing the sun was _really_ good at doing and turned it red. He’d spent the entire time between the Storm Coast and Haven thinking her hair was just a dark brown. Unfair, as by then she _knew_ he had a thing for redheads.

“Solas, you find the rune?”

“Here.”

“Great.” Kendra’s shoulder popped as she stretched her arms above her head. “Let’s keep moving. Any luck, and we’ll find our missing soldiers before… I dunno, you think it’s dusk yet?”

“Can’t tell the friggin’ time,” Serra muttered.

“I think it’s starting to rot my coat.” Kendra urged them together with a signal and started walking. “Sooner we get everyone safe to Haven the better.”

“It’s harder to _breathe_ here.”

Bull listened as they listed every terrible and not-so-terrible-but-damn-inconvenient thing about the Fallow Mire. He tossed his own addition out on the occasion, but really it wasn’t so bad. Crawling with walking corpses and demons, but those seemed to be the lesser evil when compared to the atmosphere. It was surprisingly humid for this far south, sure, but nothing like Seheron.

_"Do you ever think about what would happen if the Qunari conquered Orlais or Ferelden?"_

He hadn’t said what would happen to _her_ , partially because there were some things you never told anyone to their face—like the fact all the Chargers knew Skinner needed to share a bedroll with someone to sleep—and partially because the answer kept changing.

She would make a decent Ben-Hassrath. Good with people and secrets. Damn good fighter, too. She’d do well as a scholar. She had a thirst for knowledge and a memory to match. But, in the end, she was too volatile. Too quick to act, and with an impulse control the size of a gnat. Anyone who followed orders and was predictable didn’t get shit like _that_ on their hands.

The Mark may be interesting for study, but if it didn’t close when the Breach did anyone under the Qun would be sentenced to death. Neat tricks she could do with it, though.

Solas interrupted the list-making. “I must admit, I am impressed. You came away from nearly having your head removed without so much as a scratch.”

“It _was_ pretty close.”

Kendra looked from Solas to Bull, then up at Bull when her eyes met his shoulder. She was tall for a human, wasn’t used to speaking to someone above eye-level.

“ _Pretty_ close, I’ll admit. Good thing that wasn’t the first time I had to duck.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title for this was based on the popular children's game Duck Duck Goose as you can tell I am very serious about my work.


End file.
